Border Patrol: Known smuggler arrested in Waveland with 11 immigrants

GULFPORT -- Border Patrol agents followed a known smuggler into Waveland, where he had stopped at a gas station with 10 other immigrants who had no legal permission to be in the United States, documents filed in federal court allege.

Roberto Esquivel-Alonso, who had been deported in 1999 for being in the country without proper authorization, reportedly was driving one of two vehicles that had stopped at an Exxon station at Mississippi 603 and U.S. 90 on Nov. 15.

Agents had received information he would be driving through Louisiana to Mississippi, an agent's criminal complaint said. Two agents followed him from Interstate 12 to Interstate 10 and south into Hancock County.

Esquivel-Alonso allegedly was driving the lead vehicle, a gold 2007 Chevrolet Suburban, and is the registered owner of the other vehicle, a 2001 GMC Yukon driven by Edmundo Hernandez-Avila.

Both reportedly admitted they were in the U.S. without authorization.

Hernandez-Avila said he is dating Esquivel-Alonso's mother-in-law and was driving the Yukon as a favor, the agent said.

Several people traveling with them allegedly said they were being charged $150 to $200 for a trip from Texas to Orlando, Fla. Twelve people were arrested and taken to the Border Patrol station in Gulfport.

A grand jury indicted Esquivel-Alonso on Dec. 8 on a charge of bringing in and harboring people not authorized to be in the U.S. The indictment identified Hernandez-Avila and the 10 people traveling with them.

The Border Patrol agent testified at Esquivel-Alonso's preliminary hearing. An interpreter was called into court to translate.

Esquivel-Alonso's parents live in Mexico. This isn't the first time he has brought groups of people on U.S. trips, knowing they didn't have proper documentation, the agent said.

Esquivel-Alonso was arraigned Friday. He is held without bond at an undisclosed location.

He is set for trial on a court calendar that starts Feb. 29.

This story was originally published December 22, 2015 at 3:38 PM with the headline "Border Patrol: Known smuggler arrested in Waveland with 11 immigrants ."